Boxed In
by Athena Alexandria
Summary: Written for LostInLost18 for the Lost Secret Santa FanFic Challenge.  Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet are stuck in an elevator together on Christmas Eve. Jate/Suliet.


This fic was written for LostInLost18 for the Lost Secret Santa. It was supposed to be a one shot but it kept getting longer and longer and I wanted to post something before Christmas so I decided to split it into two parts. The second part should be coming along in a few days and then updates for Homecoming will resume. It's AU, as if everyone got off the island. Jack and Juliet work at the same hospital.

If you haven't already checked out my gift fic, please do. It's called ' To Making It Count' and can be found at: s/6558802/1/To_Making_It_Count

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BOXED IN

Part 1.

"Jack, we have to go. I think I'm having contractions," Kate said to get her husband's attention, interrupting what she was sure was a fascinating discussion on gastric bypasses.

It was Christmas Eve, the night of St. Sebastian's annual Christmas party, if you could even call it that; in reality, what Kate saw was a bunch of bored-looking people with nothing in common except their jobs standing around making forced small talk when really, all they wanted was to go home to their children or pets or whoever they had waiting for them.

She followed her announcement up with a loud moan, causing Jack's eyes to widen. "Okay," he agreed, the conversation forgotten. "This is it." She could see that he was trying not to go into panic mode. "Let's get you to Maternity." He took her by the shoulders and steered her through the crowd out into the hall.

"What're you doing?" he asked when she dropped the arm she was holding her belly with, punching the downward arrow to summon the elevator. "The maternity ward's up."

"We're not going to the maternity ward."

His eyes narrowed in what could have been either confusion or suspicion. "I thought you were in labour?"

She was silent as she wondered how long she could carry on the ruse before he figured it out, and then she confessed, "I lied," bracing herself for his reaction and the argument that she was sure would follow.

"You lied about being in labour?" he repeated as if he couldn't quiet believe what she was telling him.

It was low, she admitted, but she needed to do something to get them out of there or else they would have been stuck there all night. "You know how I feel about these things, Jack," she complained. "It's all shop talk about patients, and every year that creepy dermatologist gets drunk and tries to grab my ass. And as if that wasn't bad enough, this year women _I don't even know_ seem to think that it's okay to put their hands all over my stomach and ask me if I'm lactating yet." She scowled at him when she saw the corners of his lips beginning to twitch. "It's not funny."

"You're right," he agreed sweetly, shaking with suppressed laughter. "I'm sorry you didn't have a good time." He moved in behind her, circling her with his arms, planting gentle kisses along her jaw line until he succeeded in drawing a tiny smile out of her. "Maybe I can make it up to you?"

It wasn't long ago that his suggestive tone would have turned her on, but at that moment, it just made her want to hit him. "You can make it up to me by giving me a backrub when we get home," she told him, refusing to let him off the hook just yet. After all, he was the one who dragged her here when she would have preferred a cosy night in.

He released her with a sigh. "I was thinking of something a little more sexy."

She shot him a look that said '_Are you serious?_'. "I'm almost nine months pregnant, Jack. Trust me when I say a backrub _is_ sexy." But to show that she wasn't really mad, and that she had forgiven him, she slipped her arm through his as they stepped into the empty car, resting her head on his shoulder while they waited for it to carry them back down to the lobby.

"Is it really such a crime that I'm still attracted to my wife, even if she is almost nine months pregnant?" he murmured, kissing her hair, making her smile again for only the second time that night.

The doors were about to close when a man's hand slid between them, forcing them to remain open, and Sawyer appeared through the gap with Juliet, clearly unaware that they weren't alone. "You ever done it in an elevator?" he growled into her neck, as he manoeuvred them into the elevator, pushing her up against the wall a few inches from where Kate was standing.

She exchanged a look with Jack as Juliet chuckled, going for Sawyer's belt buckle, and he cleared his throat loudly to announce their presence before the situation became any more uncomfortable than it already was.

The other couple jumped apart at the sound. "Jack?" Sawyer cried when he saw who the voice belonged to, and Juliet blushed, wiping her smudged lipstick with the back of her hand. "_Kate_?" Kate greeted them with an awkward wave. "What're you two doin' here?"

"The same thing as you, apparently," Jack told him. "Bailing."

"I guess that makes it easy then," he agreed, flashing them his trademark dimples as he put a hand on the small of Juliet's back to usher her over to the adjacent wall.

No one seemed to know what to say as the elevator began to move, so they stood in silence, listening to the nondescript muzak that played from the speakers above them.

They couldn't have travelled more than a floor when the music stopped and the lights flickered out.

"What was that?" Kate asked, gripping the wooden safety bar.

"Probably just a branch hitting the power lines," Jack assured her, reaching between them for her free hand. "Don't worry, the back up generator should…" As if on cue, everything roared back to life. "See? Nothing to—" Before he could finish, the lift plummeted further down the shaft, causing everyone to stumble, and Kate, who was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her balance these days, to lose her footing and crash backwards into the wall. "Kate!" Just as suddenly as their descent had begun, it stopped, and Jack took hold of both sides of her waist to steady her. "Are you okay?"

She winced as she felt the baby's foot jam up beneath her ribs. "I think so." She reached up and pulled it out gently, noting the way that Sawyer managed to look simultaneously impressed and appalled. The light had returned, but nothing seemed to be happening. "Why aren't we moving?"

Sawyer shrugged. "Beats me." He moved to punch the button for the ground floor again but Juliet caught his elbow to stop him.

"James!"

He froze with his finger in the middle of the 'G'. "What?"

"Keep away from that button unless you want to kill us all."

He threw his head back in exasperation. "What're we supposed to do? Stand here all night?"

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic. They'll have us out of here in a few minutes."

"Oh, so _I'm_ bein' dramatic? You're the one who said pushin' one little button was gonna get us all killed."

Juliet arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, but Kate could see that she was trying not to smile. "You wanna sleep on the couch tonight? Because that can be arranged."

He wilted slightly at the threat, returning to his place against the wall without another word.

"You are so whipped." Kate muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

Just as she intended, this only served to piss him off further. "What did you just say?"

She averted her eyes to the ceiling, doing her best to appear innocent. "Nothing."

While this was happening, Jack had located the panic button, slapping his palm against it to raise the alarm. Not satisfied with this alone, he picked up the emergency phone. "Hello? This is Dr. Jack Shephard." He nodded in agreement with something the security or maintenance guy or whatever he was said. "That's right. I'm stuck in an elevator in the east wing." He glanced down at the numbers by the door. "It looks like we're between the third and fourth floors." His eyes shifted back to Kate. "Yes, my wife, Dr. Juliet Burke and her fiance. My wife is thirty-six weeks pregnant so the sooner, the better."

"What did they say?" Kate asked him when he hung up.

He ran a hand over his forehead, massaging it with the heel of his palm. "He said they're going to do everything in their power to get us out as quickly as possible, but it could take a while."

"How long?"

"Hours, maybe."

Kate's heart sank. This wasn't how she'd envisioned spending Christmas Eve.

"In that case…" Sawyer reached into his coat and drew out a handful of mini liquor bottles like the ones that he had hoarded on the island. Kate counted vodka, bourbon, whiskey and several different kinds of liqueur among his bounty.

"Where did you get those?" Jack asked him with a disapproving frown.

"I swiped 'em from the bar. Figured those stiffs wouldn't miss 'em. I was gonna do tequila shots offa Juliet later, but since we're stuck in here, and it's Christmas, we might as well get drunk."

Jack screwed his face up in disgust. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

Sawyer ignored him. "Jules?" He offered them to her and she selected one. "Freckles?"

She eyed him with an incredulous look. "You do know that I'm pregnant, right?"

"One little sip's not gonna hurt the kid." He looked to Jack for confirmation. "Right, Doc?"

"The jury's still out on that one," he replied tersely.

"Well what's your excuse?" Sawyer pressed him with a smirk, redirecting his efforts to him instead. "You got a bun in the oven, too?"

"Gimme that," he demanded, snatching the nearest bottle from his hand, though whether this was because he felt the need to defend his manhood, or because it was the only way he could make it through the next few hours without killing him, Kate wasn't sure.

"That's the spirit." Sawyer smirked approvingly as Jack unscrewed the cap and brought it to his lips. When he finished it off in a couple of swallows, tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder, he added, "Whoa, easy there, Doc. Save some for the rest of us."

There was nothing left to do but wait so they each took their place on the floor, Jack and Kate on one side and Sawyer and Juliet on the other. Kate had left her coat upstairs in her haste to get away so Jack shrugged out of his jacket, draping it over her bare shoulders to keep her and the baby warm.

"Now what?" Juliet asked, looking every bit as bored as Kate felt.

"We could play a little drinkin' game," Sawyer suggested. He turned to Kate with a smug smile. "How about 'I Never'?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," she warned them. "He plays dirty."

"Wait," Jack said slowly, staring at Kate in confusion. "When did you play 'I Never' with Sawyer?"

"She never told you about that?" Sawyer asked, enjoying his evident jealousy. Even though it was all water under the bridge at this point, there were times when he still couldn't resist rubbing it in. "It was on the island. Good thing you ain't drinkin', Freckles, 'cause there's one right there."

"Flip, Sip or Strip," Juliet piped up.

Sawyer nearly choked on his drink. "Excuse me?"

"It's a drinking game," she explained.

"I know what it is," he insisted. "I just didn't think you did."

"You don't think med students have parties? I could tell you some stories that would make your hair curl…"

"See, I've never understood that expression," Kate remarked.

"Of course _you_ don't," Sawyer teased her. "Your hair's already curly."

Kate waited until Jack and Juliet weren't looking to poke her tongue out at him.

Juliet fished around in her purse until she found a quarter. "So, who's in?"

"I hope you're plannin' on getting' drunk tonight, Doc, 'cause I sure as hell don't wanna see what you got under those clothes."

"Likewise," Jack agreed.

"Since it was my idea, I'll go first," Juliet said. "Heads." She flipped the coin. "Hmm. Guess I get to keep my shirt. James?"

Sawyer picked the coin up from her palm. "Tails." It was heads. He smirked at Jack as he began unbuttoning his shirt, peeling it off to reveal his smooth chest. "You're up."

"I'm gonna say heads."

"Ohhhh!" Sawyer cried obnoxiously when it landed on tails.

"What's it gonna to be, Jack?" Juliet prompted him. "Sip? Or strip?"

"Go on, Jack," Kate agreed, when it looked like he might drink. She glanced over at Sawyer, aiming her next words at him, "Show him that you've got _nothing_ to be ashamed of."

He did as she suggested, dropping his shirt to the floor with a defiant expression.

Juliet's gaze flicked over his body appreciatively. "I see you've been working out."

"Juliet!" Sawyer cried in horror.

She returned her attention to the game. "Tails."

"How is it that you get to keep your clothes?" Jack complained as she passed the coin to Sawyer.

She responded with a nonchalant shrug. "What can I say? I'm good at this game."

They played a few more rounds, during which both men were ordered to take off their shoes, socks and belts. After that, they reverted to drinking to avoid losing any more clothing. And yet Juliet somehow managed to escape with both her outfit and her sobriety in tact.

After a while, Sawyer said, "Maybe we should play somethin' else. Seems like Freckles is gettin' bored," but Kate only dimly registered his words.

This couldn't be happening. Not here. Not now. It seemed almost ironic considering that that was what got her and Jack into this situation in the first place.

"Kate?" Juliet prompted her gently.

They all followed her gaze to the puddle seeping slowly from beneath the hem of her dress. "I think my water just broke…"

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Part 2: A labouring Kate, a drunk Jack, a disgusted Sawyer, and a stressed out Juliet... ;)

(Also, feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts on what the baby should be because as much as I love Jabies, it does get kind of boring when there are only two genders.)


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